The medieval billhook

More is known about Roman era tools, c 100BC to 500AD, than those from later periods. The Dark Ages followed the collapse of the Roman Empire, and it is not until the time of the Anglo Saxons, and later the Normans, that any real evidence can be found. Artefacts such as billhooks are very rare - old iron and steel was a valuable resource, and worn out tools would be recycled into new.

 

However there is one source that has survived - the illuminated manuscript. From the 10th to the 16th century there are many surviving manuscripts, often Books of Hours, a form of Prayer Book. February and March were the months for vine pruning, and thus illustrations of billhooks being used for this prupose are plentiful. Occasionally ecclesiastical carvings and stained glass windows also provide further evidence.

 

The heading for this site shows an illustration from the Breviari d'amor (c 1288) written in Occitan (probably in Béziers, France) by Master Ermengaud (died 1322) of a hooded peasant pruning vines with a large double bladed billhook. The use of the blade in an upwards slicing motion, towards the user, rather than a downward chopping motion, away from the user, is typical of this usage. It is not known who illustrated this copy of the manuscript.

10th century British - British Museum collection. This shape, with an open socket for a wooden handle, was also found in pre-Roman Britain and is still found in the 21st century in Morocco and southern Spain.

Anglo Saxon (11th century) - Tiberius Manuscript. A tanged billhook with a narrow back blade.

12th century British, from Faccombe Netherton (Hants). Not so different than those from the 10th century, above.

'La taille' vine pruning in February or March. Autun cathedral, France. 12th century.

Vine pruning, a detail in stained glas from the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. 13th century.

14th century, France - Biblitheque Municipal de Dijon, MS 0268. A double bladed gardener's tool.

German c 1423. Frantz Weingartman (literally vineyardman) was a resident in the almshouses for retired tradesmen in the Nürnberger region of Bavaria (now modern Germany). All residents had their image recorded in the house book (Die Hausbücher).

March - vine pruning. Angers, France. 15th century.

Cutting firewood in January. Belgium, beginning of 16th century.

A french nobleman's hunting knife in the shape of a billhook. This decorated billhook is probably late 16th century, and is typical of the tools made for the rich landowners. Its beauty and value must have contributed greatly to its preservation in an almost unused condition. This one from the V&A Museum London. Similar can be seen in the museums of Paris, Rouen and Metz. The ones from Metz are part of a group of tools including a pruning saw and spring loaded pruners, indicating use in a gardening context, rather than hunting. The back blades on the 'serpettes' appear to have a single bevel, like those on the English 'Milton Hatchet'.